Accident description
Last updated: 23 May 2013
Status:
Date:18 NOV 1947
Type:Bristol 170 Freighter 11
Operator:AB Trafik-Turist-Transportflyg
Registration: SE-BNG
C/n / msn: 12792
First flight:
Crew:Fatalities: / Occupants: 4
Passengers:Fatalities: / Occupants: 21
Total:Fatalities: 21 / Occupants: 25
Airplane damage: Written off
Airplane fate: Written off (damaged beyond repair)
Location:Santa Maria del Monte (Italy) show on map
Phase: En route (ENR)
Nature:Domestic Non Scheduled Passenger
Departure airport:Catania-Fontanarossa Airport (CTA/LICC), Italy
Destination airport:Roma-Ciampino Airport (CIA/LIRA), Italy
Narrative:
The Bristol 170 was chartered to return Swedish pilots back home from Ethiopia. They had ferried a group of SAAB B 17 bombers to Addis Ababa and were returning to Sweden. The airplane departed Catania (CTA) on the Island of Sicily at 14:28 for an over sea flight to Rome. After passing the Island of Stromboli, the aircraft strayed off course. Flying in clouds at 1040m the Bristol touched treetops on Monte Carro. Trying to climb away, the pilot found himself on a collision course with the Santa Maria del Monte peak. While making a 180deg turn, the left wing struck Monte Carro and was torn off, causing the aircraft to crash.

PROBABLE CAUSE: "There is no reason to believe that the engines or instrument were not operating normally. The cause of the accident must have been the pilot's failure to realize that his craft was in mountainous territory. The surviving passengers could not give an account of what happened immediately prior to the accident as they all were asleep when it occurred."

Events:

Sources:
» Piston Engine Airliner Production List / A.B. Eastwood, J. Roach, 1996
» WAAS

Photos
No Photo Available

Map
This map shows the airport of departure and the intended destination of the flight. The line between the airports does not display the exact flight path.
Distance from Catania-Fontanarossa Airport to Roma-Ciampino Airport as the crow flies is 523 km (327 miles).

This information is not presented as the Flight Safety Foundation or the Aviation Safety Network’s opinion as to the cause of the accident. It is preliminary and is based on the facts as they are known at this time.
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Bristol 170

  • 3rd loss
  • 214 built
  • 2nd worst accident (at the time)
  • 8th worst accident (currently)
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 Italy
  • 4th worst accident (at the time)
  • 24th worst accident (currently)
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